Mother ID's son's body two weeks after slaying

TIJUANA:
The mother of a 19-year-old North Carolina man found stabbed to death on a beach formally identified her son's body yesterday. “Who, who did this to my son?” Elizabeth Taylor asked. “Why? Why did this happen?”

Shane Pennington was found dead two weeks ago. He had moved from North Carolina and was living in Orange County.

Baja California authorities said yesterday that Pennington had marijuana, cocaine and alcohol in his system when he was killed. A refrigerated meat delivery truck, which Pennington was last seen driving the day before his body was found, remained missing. The 2004 Ford Ranger belonged to Pennington's Orange County employer and contained 109 boxes of meat worth close to $3,000.

Salvador Ortiz, assistant attorney general for Baja California, said investigators ruled out involvement of organized crime.

Taylor said her son told friends that he was heading for work when he drove off about 1:15 p.m. March 23. He was not heard from again. His body was found at 6:10 a.m. March 24.

A U.S. law enforcement source, who requested anonymity because he wasn't an authorized spokesman, said license plate readers at the border had recorded the truck driving into Mexico at San Ysidro about 7:30 p.m. March 23. Three hours earlier, cameras had caught the truck heading north from Tijuana into San Diego, suggesting that an initial crossing into Mexico had not been not recorded. –S.D.

Grandmother stabbed
repeatedly, police say

CHULA VISTA: A 22-year-old man repeatedly stabbed his friend's 72-year-old grandmother at her home yesterday for no apparent reason, police said.

The woman was steam-cleaning her carpets at her home on Barrett Avenue while Andreas Estrada, of Florida, was visiting her grandson at the house, Chula Vista police Agent Sean Desmond said.

When the grandson was out of the room, Estrada suddenly attacked the woman from behind, police Lt. Phil Collum said. The woman was stabbed and slashed on her neck, chest and hands. Her grandson came in and pulled Estrada away, then held him down until police arrived about 1:15 p.m.

Estrada was jailed on suspicion of attempted murder. The woman is expected to recover. She told officers she had met Estrada only once before. –P.R.

Three men are arrested
in gang member's death

CARLSBAD: Three men have been arrested in connection with a fatal shooting of a man police say was a fellow Encinitas street-gang member.

Police said the four came to Carlsbad on Saturday night to fight a gang. They clashed about 8 p.m. near Pine Avenue Community Park and Chase Field, busy with weekend soccer and basketball players and family picnics.

They were fighting and chasing each other when one man opened fire, killing Juan Carlos Balderas, 21, of San Marcos. Investigators said they believe he was shot by Javier Antonio Lopez, 19, a member of the same Encinitas gang as Balderas, police Lt. Neil Gallucci said.

Lopez was arrested Sunday afternoon at his home in La Costa where he lives with his parents, Lt. Kelly Cain said.

Gallucci said he did not know why Lopez would have shot Balderas during a fight with a rival gang. Officers found Balderas' body in a vacant lot.